The Tempest
by little fairy
Summary: AU VH A terrible war starts in Gaea. Hitomi, a protected girl living in a place of peace runs away to fight the evil. On her way she meets the stubborn, fallen king of Fanelia. Can they overcome their differences and bring Gaea peace again?
1. Prologe

A/N: New story! Hope you like it!! I don't own Escaflowne.

_Thoughts are in Italics, exept for the story at the begining.  
_  
The Tempest  
  
The sun stood high in the sky, warming the earth. A light breeze whistled through the long grass and the few trees of a wide, peaceful meadow.  
  
On a little hill in the middle of the meadow sat a group of young people, each of them was dressed in a white robe with the hood covering their faces. They had all gathered around an elderly woman, who fondly smiled down at them. She closed her eyes and breathed in the fresh, clean air. Everything was so peaceful! But slowly she opened her dark purple eyes again and her words were carried with the wind:  
  
_A long time ago, longer than man can remember, Gaea was at war.  
_  
_It was a horrible war, hundred thousands died, women and children were tortured and slaughtered. Villages were robbed and burnt, blood was on every man's hand. Fathers were killed by sons and mothers stabbed their daughters. Sadness and despair covered Gaea, there was not a night without screams and cries.  
_  
_Until one day the most powerful and wisest sorcerers of all Gaea came together to stop the terrible battles and bring peace upon Gaea again.  
_  
_They were thirteen, one from each country, their names are long forgotten. But their united powers ended the war. After the last battle the sorcerers banned their powers into a stone and sealed it into mountains far away and unreachable, so none of them could use their powers to harm Gaea and bring destruction again.  
  
Peace was brought upon Gaea for many years and people forgot about the stone, the sorcerers and the war.  
_  
The woman's eyes sifted away from the youths and stared at the horizon.  
  
_However, one day the time of peace will end and an even bloodier and colder war will start again. An oracle foretold that an ancestor of one of the thirteen sorcerers will find the sealed stone and blinded by its power, he will try to rule over Gaea, with him as the ultimate ruler. With every fiber of his being he will try to get to his goal and fight everyone in his way!  
_  
The woman looked at her students again. Her gaze filled with deep sadness.  
  
_The time of the peace has ended. The prophecy has fulfilled itself, the Great Gaean war has begun._

_

* * *

_  
A loud scream echoed through the woods followed by more bloody cries and soon fire flared up in the sky.  
  
That night the first innocent lives were taken by the war. It was a little village at the outside of Basram, bordering the dark kingdom of Zaibach.

* * *

A young woman bolted out of her bed with a little scream, her green eyes wide open in shock and beads of sweat stood on her forehead. Her slender hands clung to the white bed sheets painfully. Her breathing was heavy and fast.  
  
She slowly reached up to her forehead and rested her head.  
  
"What was that?", she asked out loud, exhaustion heavy in her voice. It couldn't have been a vision, could it? She had never had visions before in her life! But it felt so real! It felt as if she was right there in the middle of that little village, seeing those poor people die. She even felt the immense heat of the fire burning her skin.  
  
The woman's breathing slowed down a bit as she carefully got out of her bed. Her bare feet touched the soft carpeted floor and her long night grown fell around her ankles. Still in grief she grabbed her heavy house coat and quickly put it on her slender form.  
  
She walked over to the door that led out to the long hallway. She slowly cracked the door open, she didn't want anybody to wake up. The hallway was barely lit by the burning candles hanging from the walls, their dark holders were almost invisible to the eye.  
  
The young woman walked down the hallway without paying attention, but she didn't need to. She had walked these halls since she was eight, she could walk them with eyes closed.  
  
Lost in thoughts she quickly reached the huge oak door leading to the kitchen. She absently got out a wooden cup and filled it with water, not even noticing the other person in the room.  
  
Her mind was set on her dream, or better nightmare. She tried to convince herself that it was just a dream, she couldn't have visions. It was just not possible!  
  
"I don't have the powers to have visions!", she set the empty cup angrily down on the table.  
  
"What did you say Hitomi?"  
  
Hitomi quickly jumped and turned around, her eyes met dark brown ones. The other young woman came out of the food storage cabinet with a roasted chicken-leg in her mouth and another one in her hand. Her shoulder length brownish red hair was a little out of place, probably from sleeping. But apart from that she looked wide awake.  
  
"Yukari!!!! You startled me!!! Can't you say that you are here!?! And what are you doing?!", Hitomi cried angrily.  
  
"Ohh Hitomi", she waved with one of the chicken legs, "Don't act like that. I was here first, so you should have said something. And I am eating, I got a little hungry and I remembered the roasted chicken we had tonight so I just got some. So! Now tell me what you are doing here". Yukari eyed her friend, her long sandy blond hair was tangled and stood to all sides, her cheeks looked flushed. Yukari could tell something had happened, the look in Hitomi's eyes told her. She had known Hitomi since the sandy blond arrived here in the temple at eight, Yukari had shown her around and since that day they were best friends.  
  
"Besides, what did you say about visions or so?"  
  
Hitomi watched her feet, "I-I don't know. I had this dream, but it felt so real. I was in this village and everything was quiet and peaceful, until suddenly a burning arrow whistled through the air. It set one of the houses on fire and then everything went so fast, people came out of their houses screaming and man came from the woods, killing villagers and robbing houses. I could feel the heat of the fire, but then I suddenly woke up", Hitomi looked at her best friend, "I don't know what it was."  
  
Yukari watched her friend a long time in deep concentration. She knew this dream or vision troubled Hitomi greatly. But it couldn't be possible,... could it? She began carefully: "Hitomi, I don't want to hurt you or anything, but-but visions aren't in your power. You are a great archer and sword fighter, probably the best here, but you have to admit that your magical powers aren't- are ", Yukari was searching for the right words, "not your real strength." She saw her friend lowering her head, she hoped she hadn't hurt her.  
  
_She was right, magic isn't my strength_. She remembered when she arrived here at the Iovi temple. People who came to this temple had special powers within them, they were selected to come here to learn how to control their gifts and to develop them.  
  
She came here because of her mother, she had been one of the strongest seers and sorceresses in Gaea and lived here in this temple until she met Hitomi's father. They moved together into a nearby village and lived happy, especially when Hitomi was born. But their happiness didn't last long, as when Hitomi turned eight her mother got very sick and soon passed away. Her father turned into an empty shell, he didn't enjoy life anymore. He loved Hitomi, but he couldn't get over his beloved wife's death. So his decision was to send his daughter to the Iovi temple.  
  
They took her with open arms, because they thought she possessed powers like her mother, although her father was a normal human.  
  
But she was a disappointment.  
  
She couldn't even use the easiest spells, nothing would work. All the other kids called her names and wanted to have nothing to do with her, except for Yukari. But that wasn't enough, after two years she wanted to go home and live with her father. However, he passed away only one week before Hitomi wanted to go home again. She had been devastated, her beloved father had died and she had no other place to go to than the temple. So she started training. If her magical powers wouldn't work she would learn how to use the bow and the sword better than anybody.  
  
And she did!  
  
She was better than every man and woman in the temple and around. Now, ten years after she first arrived, she felt at home here. She found more friends here and got along with everybody. She loved the wide fields and woods surrounding the temple.  
  
And the best, she even learned some spells. They were very simple and nothing special and she would never be as good as Yukari or some of her other friends, who she looked up to as they performed their tricks or trained in the gardens. She sometimes longed to be like them, but she had to live with it. Besides she was only eighteen and would maybe learn a little bit more.  
  
Yukari felt bad for her friend, she knew that it hurt Hitomi that she wasn't a magician like the others were. But she was a wonderful person, kind and caring and humorous. Hitomi was a great friend, she had always been there for her, it didn't matter if she talked about her latest crush or if she was mad at her teacher for yelling at her. Hitomi always listened and tried to comfort her. She hoped that she was as good a friend to Hitomi as she was to her.  
  
And now her friend needed cheering up. A mischievous grin spread on Yukari's face. "So Hitomi, I think you have been lying to me." Hitomi's head shot up in astonishment. The grin on the red hair's face widened as she continued, "I mean your hair is all messed up, your night gown wrinkled and your face was flushed... I think you had a passionate dream about Amano again, right?"  
  
The other girl's eyes widened and her face reddened immediately: "N-No, no! I-I never had a dream about Amano. What are you thinking?"  
  
Yukari had to cover her mouth to keep from laughing," Oh Hitomi, don't lie to me! I know that you like him and think that he's 'Ohhh sooooo hot'", she mockingly waved air into her face, "I think you should talk to him, or ... do you want me to do that? Right tomorrow morning, I'm going to tell him everything, about your dreams and your wedding plans for the two of you and- "  
  
She could end her sentence, because an angry Hitomi lunged at her: "You little liar! You wouldn't dare.."  
  
"Try me!" And a wildly giggling Yukari ran out of the kitchen into the hallway.  
  
"You!!" With that Hitomi was sprinting after her, shaking her fist at her friend's laughing form.

* * *

A/N: First chapter done!!!!! The story doesn't really have to do anything with Shakespeare. But I liked the title and it suites the story. Hope you like it! I try to update as soon as possible, but first I try to finish 'In Disguise'. I know, I haven't updated in ten months soooo I think I need to! PLEASE REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW!!!  
  
Read you next time,  
  
Little fairy 


	2. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't owe The Vision of Escaflowne or any of its characters!!!!

AN: Second chapter!! Hope you enjoy it!!!

The Tempest

The azure blue sky was turning a slight pink as the sun slowly set. Long shadows ran through the streets and people were on their way home after a long day's work.

It had been a wounderful day in the glorious kingdom of Fanelia. Although Fanelia was small it had a respected reputation all around Gaea. The kingdom was famous for its resources, traditions and for its beauty. Fanelia was nested in a mountain bed with thick forests and clear rivers, where dragons, unicorns and other fantastic creatures lived hidden from the eyes.

Moreover Fanelia's rulers were well known for their wise and kind ruling. If there were differences between other countries Fanelia negotiated between them to bring peace again.

The people in Fanelia were happy and looked up at the castle towering over the kingdom with respect and love.

The now red sun light washed over the city. The soldiers at the outpost watched the main street leading into Fanelia lazily. Their tired eyes flew over the farmers' houses clustered together outside the gates.

A guard stifled a yawn as he once again turned his eyes at the main road. But this time his eyes opened wide and waves of fear and shock ran through his body. He was not able to move nor say something, he just stood there his body shaking with terror.

The man next to him laughed, "Seen a ghost again, Davill?" But as his gaze followed the other man's his laughter died and his face palled.

An army was coming their way, directly to the city. It must have been thousands, a never ending sea of black and blue uniforms. But what made his blood run cold were not the soldiers but the dragons.

Everywhere in between the rows of men were huge beasts. Their massive bodies were dark green with stone like scales and deadly blue spikes. Every stomp of their clawed feet made the ground shake and the low growling from deep within their armoured chests made every men's blood freeze. The dragons' faces were broad with wild yellow eyes, darting around. Their mouths hung open and saliva fell in big, sticky drops to the ground. In their mouths were rows of terrifying long and sharp teeth, ready to snap a man in half. And deep down their throat was a burning fire that could destroy all life. On the dragons' backs sat men, they were so small and fragile compared to the beast. It seemed almost ridiculous to think that such powerful creatures would let a tiny man lead the way.

The army was coming faster and faster, not once did they stop. Houses and even people that were in their way were run over, with no sign of remorse. The families, living in front of the gate were trying to flee, but they were lost.

Cold sweat ran down the guard's face and finally he was able to tear his eyes way from the deadly army approaching. Hastily he ran to the warning bell hanging from the ceiling of the post. The way seemed to last an eternity and he tried to run faster. As if he was in a trance he rang the bell and screamed with all his might,

"WE ARE UNDER ATTACK!! ATTACK!!! ATTACK!!!"

At that moment life in the city seemed to stop. Silence was lying upon Fanelia, bathed in the blood red light of the dying sun. Only the screams and shouts from the gate broke the quiet atmosphere.

But suddenly a loud bang shattered the silence, dust and stones filled the air and fire flared up into the sky.

A woman dropped her basket with fruits and ran away screaming. Other people followed, panic took hold of them. They were running through the street, trying desperately to save their lives. Lost children hid crying behind houses and wagons, people tried to reach the forests or the castle to find shelter, mothers were searching for their children or other loved ones and between all of that the Fanelian army hopelessly fought the enemy.

Fire broke free and more and more soldiers entered the city through the broken gate. The massive stone wall had fallen like a house of cards, not withstanding the strength of the opponents.

A terror filled scream was in the air as the first dragon entered the city. Its massive tail destroyed a house in one motion and a burning fireball flew from its throat, the flames taking hold of another house.

At that moment a blood red dragon flew over the doomed city. He had a slim, but strong body, and his leathery wings held him high in the sky. The black eyes of the dragon were filled with a cold fire as he shot a fireball down into the streets of Fanelia.

A maniac laugh echoed over the land. The silver haired master of the dragon directed him down into the city to bring even more death, his laughter mixing with the screams and shouts of the dying city.

Fanelia went up in flames and nothing was there to save it.

Fine sunbeams fell through the curtains. The morning sun caressed Hitomi's sleeping form. Lazily, Hitomi opened her green eyes : "Ahh, another bright day", she tiredly stretched her muscles and got out of her bed to get ready for the first morning meeting.

It had been almost two weeks since her disturbing dream, but she didn't give another thought about it. She hadn't had another nightmare like that and wouldn't have one again. Maybe she had just eaten too much that night.

Putting her white robe on, she left for the assembly room, on her way she met many other students, they were all chatting happily and laughter filled the hallways.

Quickly she reached the wide gardens of the temple, they were beautifully green and had thousands of exotic flowers blooming, which filled the air with the sweetest fragrances. Hitomi walked over to an old cherry tree, it was in bloom too and wore hundreds of white flowers and gave a fragrance like nothing else. She loved this old tree, in summer time she would eat its sweet fruit, and now in spring she would spend hours sitting beneath it, just enjoying the beauty of nature.

Lost in thoughts she didn't hear the person approaching, "Hitomi, you don't want to come too late to the meeting ,do you?"

As if stung by a bee, Hitomi turned around. She knew that voice all too well, butterflies were forming in her stomach and a red hew adorned her face, "A-Amano...I...I was lost in thoughts, I think. Thank you." She smiled up at him and felt like melting away under his friendly gaze and ,oh, so handsome smile.

"Come on, we'd better go, or we will be the last ones arriving and you don't want to get into trouble, do you?"

Still smiling, Hitomi nodded and they walked off to a building on the other side of the gardens. The building was white with marble columns decorating the entrance.

As the two friends entered almost all the other students were already seated on the floor, silently chatting with one another. Among the crowd Hitomi spotted Yukari waving frantically. She grabbed Amano's arm and led him over to Yukari.

"You are almost too late! Did you sleep in again? I should have woken you up with that water spell!! This meeting is _very_ important, unless you have forgotten the announcement!", Yukari crossed her arms and sat down.

Giggling Hitomi sat down next to her, Amano following. "Don't be too harsh to her, Yukari! We made it in time."

But before Yukari was able to reply the whole room went silent. And all eyes were directed to the entrance of the room.

Slowly an elderly woman entered, her white robe fell over her ankles and touched the ground. She walked to the middle of the group and kindly smiled down to her young students, "Good morning." Her voice was melodic and had something youthful in it, not common for a woman her age.

The youths bowed their heads and greeted her in union, "Good morning, Great Priestess."

Again, her deep purple eyes watched the crowd, not a single word was said.

"My dear students, I called you here today because I have a serious matter to discuss with you. Some of my students already know what I am going to tell you. Two weeks ago I asked some of you to accompany me on a walk. I told them about the Great Gaean War. I ordered them not to talk about what they heard until I could be sure that it was really happening, but now the time has come. Fifteen nights ago, I had a vision, it was the vision about war. A terrible war falling over Gaea. I didn't want to tell all of you until I could be really sure that it was the future I saw, but unfortunately it was. The Great Gaean War has begun again, this time even deadlier than before."

A wave of murmurs went through the room, some people looked shocked, others confused and a few had fear in their eyes.

Hitomi watched the high priestess of the temple, her breathing got shorter. Her dream came back into her mind, the fire, the screams and the death. Now she was sure, it was no dream, it was a vision, a vision of the first victims of the war. Her heart began to beat faster and she felt sick.

The woman held her arms into the air and the room went silent once again, "I know that this is a shock for all of you and not everybody knows the story of the war many years ago, but the other students will tell you later. Now we don't have time for that, right this moment we fill our storage houses, and some people from the nearby villages come here to seek shelter. Tomorrow we will put mighty spells over the temple to protect us from the war. You will not be able to leave, everybody will stay here until the war is over. We have enough food, water and everything else we need for many months. So, don't worry. Nothing will harm you!"

A servant came walking in and bowed, "High Priestess, one hundred people are inside, but there are more waiting. What shall we do? Let them in?"

"No", that moment her words were like ice, "Send them away, we don't have any room." The servant nodded and walked off.

"So my children, don't worry, just live on, like nothing happens. This is a holy place, a place like paradise. I will see you tomorrow."

But before she was able to go Hitomi jumped up, "Wait, you can't be serious! We will all just stay here, behind the temple walls and live like nothing happens?! We can't do that ... and you can't send those people away! They will die out there, they need our help!", memories of her vision filled her mind and her heart felt heavy, "We can't let them die! Here are some of the most powerful sorcerers of all Gaea, we can fight the enemy and protect the people, we don't need to hide like cowards!", she remembered one night when her mother had told her the tale about the war, she never thought it would come true, not now. But it had, and they all wanted to hide, anger was rising in her.

The Priestess looked her right into the eyes, "My dear child, Hitomi, we don't hide like cowards, we just protect ourselves. We could try to fight them, but so many would die. You don't know how much pain and destruction is out there. War doesn't only leave physical scars, it leaves deep mental gashes, sometimes, which are even deadlier than the ones you can see. I don't want any of you to experience that. You are all so close to my heart. And the villages, I don't want to send them away, but we don't have enough room and food to take care of _all_ of them. I'm sorry. But don't be sad, you will understand and thank me. We have nothing to fear behind these walls."

"But-But...", desperately Hitomi looked at the other students in the room for help, but nobody returned her gaze. They were all staring at the ground, uncomfortable expressions on their faces. Hitomi turned to her best friend Yukari with pleading eyes, "Yukari, please..."

Hesitating, Yukari met her friend's gaze, "I-I'm sorry, forgive me." Quickly she lowered her head again.

Hitomi looked around again, resentment clearly visible in her deep green eyes, "Why- Why...This is not right! Please! You can't..."

Tears were burning in her eyes, she couldn't believe this. She thought the temple would do everything to protect people from harm. They should never, _never_ hide, letting innocent women, children and men die! Everything she had believed in fell apart in front of her eyes. Not even Yukari had stood up next to her!

She couldn't take it anymore, she ran as fast as she could out of the hall and away from the people she had thought of as her family.

Darkness had settled over the lands, the mystic moon and its child stood high up in the sky and millions of stars lighted the black night. The whole temple was asleep and comfortable silence engulfed the world.

Hitomi stood at her window, watching the stars. She wore dark brown boots with suiting pants, her shirt was a dark, forest green and her hands were covered with black leather gloves. Next to her were two leather bags, the small one filled with some money, the other one with some of her few belongings and some food and drinks. A dark cape lay on her bed and next to it was an artfully carved bow and two long, silver daggers.

_It is time_, with a sigh she pushed herself away from the window – sill. Skilfully she put her long hair into a bun and walked over to her bed. Quickly she pulled the cape over and placed the daggers underneath it against her belt. The bow, she placed on her back. She hadn't had arrows yet, she would need to get some later on. At last she strapped the large bag across her shoulders and the small one on her belt.

Swiftly she climbed onto the window-sill and with one small jump she landed lithely on the grass. For once she was glad that her room lay on the first floor and not like the rooms of some of her fellow students on the second or third.

Quietly like a cat she ran over to the small stables of the temple. She met nobody on her way, everything was quite, not even the animals in the stables disturbed the peaceful night.

In one movement she opened the stable door, immediately warm air enveloped her and the pleasant smell of the horses filled her nostrils. Although it was dark ,and the only light that came into the stables was from the cracks in the wood, Hitomi knew exactly were she had to go. Her horse stood in one of the boxes, already awaiting her. Hitomi smiled at her beloved horse, Avard. He was strong and underneath his shining white fur his muscles were clearly visible. Avard was a proud and beautiful animal, one of the fastest in the region.

Hitomi had fallen in love with him four years ago, she had seen him on a market and couldn't tear her eyes away from the young horse. The priestess didn't want to give her her own horse, but she had been crying and stubbornly insisting on buying him.

A smile played on her lips as she hugged the horse's neck. She had been so childish that day, she had never done anything like that before, she had acted like a pampered brat that day, but it was the only way to get Avard. And she did! Of course she worked hard to give the money back the priestess had paid and she worked for his food and shelter, but she loved it. Avard was worth all the hard days.

She let her fingers glide over his short fur, "Are you ready ,Avard? You will come with me, right?" As if he wanted to answer, he nodded his head.

A small laughter escaped her lips, "I knew that, so come on." She quickly got Avard ready and lead him to the temple gates. Gracefully, she got on to the saddle and turned Avard around one last time.

Her green eyes flew over the peaceful temple and its lands. She absorbed everything in this silent moment, her heart felt heavy, but she needed to go. She would try to help and fight the rising evil. She couldn't stay here and hide, although a small part of her wanted to. This part wanted her to turn around and go back to her room, and keep on living her protected life and not go out into the world.

She shook her head to get rid of those thoughts.

This may be the last time she would see her home, she sighed, but her lips formed into a smile. The wind carried her whispered words, "Fare well my friends, I hope we will met again."

With that she turned Avard around and dashed away into the night, not looking back. She left the temple and her sheltered life behind and was on her way to an unimaginable adventure.

A/N.: Hope you liked it, this is like a second introduction. Next chapters will be longer and the real adventure will begin. AND she will meet Van!!! Jumps up and Down. Later on in the story, I'm going to tell more about the Fanelian attack. Van is going to tell it, but that was enough of the preview

Please leave a review!!! I Love (!!!!!!!) reviews,

See you next time,

Little Fairy


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